Is putting kids and civilians in war games crossing a line or is it the whole point?

[Sarah Carter]

Been replaying some of the newer WWII and modern shooters lately and I keep getting stuck on something. Παιχνίδια like the recent ones with civilian massacre sequences or a kid character you’re protecting (looking at you, the last-gen Call of Duty campaign) make the combat feel way heavier, but I’m torn on whether it actually earns that weight or just uses suffering as set dressing. It feels like developers lean hard on a child NPC to force you to feel something, and sometimes it lands, sometimes it’s just manipulative.

Curious what the community thinks. Do you feel these depictions genuinely change how you play and think about the conflict, or is it just emotional exploitation for dramatic effect? And where do you personally draw the line — depicting civilians at all, or is showing kids the line?

"Nintendo 64 with UltraHDMI mod + EverDrive 64 X7 setup."

[Author]

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